Category: Gospel related

Well this is it! I get set apart as a missionary of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints tonight! I will report to the MTC tomorrow afternoon and learn there until May 22 which is when I will head to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!

I’ve never been so excited yet nervous for anything in my entire life, everyone please pray for me and those in my emails!

I know the church is true with my whole heart and if you’d like to learn more check out Mormon.org or email me!

My email is faith.higley@myldsmail.net!

I will be able to email on mondays my preparation day or “P day”.

My sister Hope and my mom Rebecca will help keep up my blog with a weekly update or aka my mission emails!

Thank you all for the love, support, prayers and kind words. This is going to be an amazing experience and I’d love for you to all hear about it!

The church is true I know it with all my heart. President Monson is a true prophet, Joseph Smith restored the true church, the Book of Mormon is full of truth, light and knowledge. This is the only true church and it will bless you and bring so much happiness to your life.

I’m choosing to serve the Lord. I’m choosing to serve His people. I’m choosing to put my life, schooling and job and other opportunities on hold for the next year and a half of my life. I’m choosing to make sacrifices. I’m choosing to put everyone else before me. I’m choosing to love and to humble myself. I’m choosing to learn, grow and change. I’m choosing to learn to love my God more than anyone else and to always put Him first. I’m choosing to strengthen my testimony.

I’m choosing to do the scariest, most stressful yet wonderful and happy experience of my life.

I’m choosing to serve a mission.

I didn’t want this, I didn’t choose this path for me God did but it’s my jobs to choose to follow His will and to trust in Him that whatever plans I had in store, that His are way better.

A lot may question why 18/19 year old young men and young women would go to a place that’s foreign to them, learn a language they’ve never heard of and leave behind their family, friends, work, schooling and life for 18-24 months.

There isn’t just one reason but many…

To share the truth

The gospel is true. The gospel brings hope, light, happiness, peace, comfort and love to all those who are humble enough to accept it.Selflessness

I know what families can be together forever, what comfort this sweet sentence gives. How can I go about my life knowing that so many people don’t have this knowledge? So many others in the world believe that after this life is over, we are over. However that is not true, we are much more than that, we are eternal beings. We can be sealed together for time and all eternity. This knowledge can bring so much peace and comfort to everyone who believes in it defeating heart break and sorrow.

To share true and everlasting happiness

Nothing in my entire 19 years of living has made me happier than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Nothing has ever made more sense or comforted me more than this gospel and nothing ever will.

To teach forgiveness

We believe that Christ atoned for OUR sins. He suffered, bled and died on the cross for US. Christ lives, He was resurrected and He LIVES today. Through the power of the atonement and repentance we can be forgiven no matter what we have done. We don’t have to carry around that heavy burden because Christ will carry it for us, He died for us so that He would not only know, feel and understand what we are going through but so that He could help us through it because He will never leave us alone.

I’ve been struggling really bad if I’m being honest. As the days come faster to when I leave for my mission (18 days in case you were wondering) my head has been flooded with doubts all from Satan…

“You won’t have any friends when you get home”

“You’re not smart enough”

“You’re not strong enough”

“You can’t do this”

“Why would you leave your life behind, you’re wasting time”

“You’re not good enough”

“Your testimony isn’t strong enough”

“Why would God send you?”

“You know nothing”

Every single day I wonder these things, and every single day I have to constantly fight these negative thoughts away, and sometimes I don’t win the battle.

Tonight as I was writing another article, “Choose The Right” which is about my choice to serve I realized something so so so important. It changed my entire outlook and immediately gave me peace and comfort.

I realized that there must be some talent or passion or anything that I could use to reach out to someone and touch their life, even if it only is one person, they matter. I realized that something I will do or say or show will change someone else’s life forever. That there has to be something special about me for the Lord to call me, that the Lord knows I am good enough, strong enough and smart enough.

Then the heartwarming thought came to me that God trusts me.. ME, Faith Rebecca Higley to represent Him and His church. What an amazing feeling that is that the Lord knows that I can do this. He knows that I will teach and preach and give it my all. He knows that I can accomplish the things which I have been sent to earth to do. He knows I can accomplish hard things and He knows that I can change people’s lives forever.

He knows me and trusts me, God believes in me and I’ve learned to trust and believe in Him.

Scary right? But so exciting and so reassuring at the same time. God does not call anyone and everyone on a mission. I’ve had plenty of friends who have wanted to go on missions so badly but when the prayed for the answer to know if they should go, they got the answer no. That it wasn’t right for them, that God has something else in store for them.

So I realized how blessed am I that I get the opportunity to choose to serve Him and His people for 18 months! How blessed am I for the Lord to send me to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to teach His people! How blessed am I that the Lord has prepared me for this next step in my life. I am so blessed for the chance and opportunity to change my life and others by bringing them closer to Christ.

I am so blessed.

So if you have the opportunity to serve the Lord do it! You don’t have to go on a mission to serve, teach and change lives around you. BUT “if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;” -D&C 4:3.

And if you know in your heart and in your mind that you’re supposed to serve a mission but have no desire, pray. Pray for that desire and don’t give up. Listen to the promoting of the Holy Ghost. God will help you.

Everything won’t just be alright when you get back, but better than you could’ve imagined.
The church is true! God loves each one of us and knows that is truly best for us. We must trust Him and align our will with His.

We are all not just good enough, but we are more than enough.

Keep an eye out for my next post “Choose The Right” for my reasons on why I’m choosing to serve the Lord.

Many don’t know but I work with special needs adults for my job. I was at work one day and I went to check the time on my phone. One of the clients in my group asked to see my background..

She then stared for a moment at the picture and looked at me with honest eyes and said to me, “that’s my brother”. Not discussing the topic of religion anymore we moved on to our activity. My heart was softened and my eyes teared up when this wonderful client had said those words. They were right Jesus Christ is our brother, our Savior, Redeemer and best friend.

Today, April 3rd I went home to meet my family to go out to dinner in Idaho falls for my dads birthday. After dinner I headed back over to their house for an hour where B, my 4 year old brother asked me to watch a show with him, hesitant because I needed to get back to study for finals I said yes because he is definitely too cute to say no to.

We sat down and were watching animated church videos about the Gospel. B calls them “The Jesus show”. As we were watching the one where Mary was traveling to Bethlehem to give birth to our Savior, B turned to his mom and said “mommy this show makes me feel good inside”. My heart melted and once again tears flooded to my eyes. A little 4 year old boy was feeling the spirit. B then turned to me and asked if I was feeling the same way, I nodded yes but then just proceeded in awe amazed and what my little brother had just said to me. What an example that he was.

He was so excited to be learning about the church and those who were apart of it. He knew Nephi and Lehi’s name and would be able to tell who was wicked and who was righteous. He would gleam and scream with joy when they were being righteous. He was so happy and loves learning about the church and that’s how we all should be.

When you go to church do you radiate with happiness and excitement to learn that day about the Gospel? Are you as willing to feel the spirit and recognize Him in your life?

Well we all should be.

From these 2 experiences I’ve had in the past week my testimony has grown and strengthened and I couldn’t have kept it to myself. ﻿

So take your time to learn about the Gospel, ask questions and be excited about and love the Gospel and your testimony will strengthen.

Recently I’ve been hanging out with one of my old friends a lot, and we’ve been struggling of finding fun things to do together.
I had the idea to do random acts of kindness/service for those serving in the temple, but really you can just do it anywhere!

It was really simple we just cut up some notebook paper and started writing inspiring and kind quotes and encouraging scriptures on them.

Before we knew it we probably had over 50, we even watched Lilo & Stitch in the process. We then drove to the temple and placed them randomly on people’s cars. We totally underestimated how many cars there were and wished we had notes for everyone, but now we know for next time!

We then sat and watched for a little while. This couple came out and we saw them grab the note and smiles flashed across their face and then they hugged each other. They then took a picture with them and the note and happily left.

That made our whole night. Seeing how happy you can make someone by a simple gesture is just the best thing in the entire world.

If you’re like me you have a hard time preparing for pretty much anything here are tips and tricks on how to get the most out of general conference, enjoy!

Pray before you watch it, ask the spirit to be there and to help you listen and to really take in the words of the Prophet and Apostles.

Take notes and pay attention. You should be able to take notes while still being able to follow along and listen to their words, don’t get caught up if you didn’t hear something or can’t remember it, it will all be online after it is over so don’t stress over it and miss even more.

Start thinking of your questions that you want and keep them in mind throughout all of the sessions. Ponder and pray about them. God hears you.

Speaking of all of the sessions watch ALL of them. As a kid I never thought the Saturday session or women’s session was nearly as important as the Sunday one but IT IS!!

Invite others to watch it, members and non members, friends and family!

Watch for repeated phrases. It must be important if it’s mentioned lots.

Read your scriptures before hand, it will help to bring in the spirit.

Make it fun! Have snacks and invite loved ones over. You can have fun while still paying attention and feeling the spirit. And if you have kids get them conference bingo or other fun activities to help them pay attention and enjoy themselves.

Listen to inspirational music before, in between and after sessions.

Pay attention to those impressions that you have about a certain talk, those happen to YOU for a reason.

Don’t fall asleep! If that means changing out of your pj’s into church attire, do it! Sit up right in your seat and do not doze off.

Remember that the impressions and feelings you feel are more important than anything else.

I was on vacation this past weekend. We were headed home on a Sunday so it was hard to find a way to keep my Sabbath day holy. I proceeded to listen to the Mormon music channel on Pandora on the drive home. Getting home too late to attend a sacrament meeting I decided to pull out my scriptures and watch some general conference talks.

There are many ways to keep the Sabbath day holy when either you cannot make it to church or you are on vacation and there are other things that have been planned to be done.

Here are some ideas:

Attend a sacrament wherever you’re at if possible, it is interesting to see how different the culture is where you are vacationing. Wards are often listed in the local directory or online at lds.org.

Visit temple grounds and visitors center if possible. An idea given by an article on lds.org says one family visited other religions churches such as cathedrals to learn about them and their religion.

Read the scriptures

Read or listen to general conference talks

Listen to MOTAB or EFY music

Write in a journal

Write letters to family members

Avoid spending money

Go on a hike or a walk, enjoy nature

Missionary work: give someone a Book of Mormon or share your testimony with someone

Visit church historical sites if possible

Have a family devotional and share a short message with each other

If you have access online or a computer index or do family history work

Share the gospel on social media if you have internet access

Watch a Mormon message or other church videos/movies

Email missionaries

Give friends or family members a call let them know you’re thinking of them

Family prayer

Do a service for a random person

All share something that you’re grateful for

So next time you’re short of time on Sunday while on vacation think of these things to bring the spirit with you throughout the day.

These past 2 weeks have been nothing but difficult. I remembering not being able to fall asleep because how much was racing through my mind. I would wake up sad and would struggle to have the desire to get up and out of bed.

I would be sad all day long. I would just think about what my life would be if things had gone the way that I thought they were supposed to go, the way I wanted them to go.

I cried to the Lord asking why He was not here with me, I would plead for the strength and happiness to carry on just with one day. I questioned why things were so hard and why they were the way they were.

Today as I was sitting in fast and testimony meeting and I was thinking about these past couple weeks. Though I’m still sad and having a hard time I realized that these past couple week, weren’t as hard as I thought. I realized that life wasn’t as bad as I thought it was, that God was there for me. He was with me the whole time. I was never alone. If it weren’t for Him I wouldn’t have had the strength everyday to accomplish the things I did.

Without Him, I would be broken. I would be nothing. With Christ you can accomplish so much more and feel so much more happiness.﻿

Our loving Christ was sacrificed for our broken hearts not only just our sins. He died for us so He would know and feel what hard times we have to go through in this life, so that we don’t have to go through them alone.

During a trial in your life, you will feel alone, sad and unloved. You will feel like everything in your life has been turned upside down. You will feel hurt and broken.

Jesus Christ knows how you feel. When you look back you will know that He will not leave you alone. You will know that He was there the whole time loving you, supporting you and cheering you on.

You are never alone, and when you look back you will realize that things were never as hard as they seemed because He was by your side holding your hand and guiding you to the path of righteousness and happiness back to Him.

I bear my testimony that as we make Christ the center of our lives we will be blessed. We can serve Him by serving his people and we will be blessed. I know the church is true and that our Father in Heaven knows and loves us. I know that we are never truly alone. I know that if we pray that He will answer them. I know that we are loved. I know that Christ lives.

I’ve been struggling with my relationships with those closest to me, got yelled at by a roommate, failed a quiz i needed go do good on for a class im doing awful in, my mission papers are taking FOREVER, i’m not able to find a job and i have felt more alone than i have in my entire life.

I’ve cried about 5 times alone today.

Sad, alone, lost and confused is how i would describe myself. I have way too much time on my hands and unfortunately i spend that time thinking of all the things going wrong in my life instead of being grateful like i should be.

I often wonder where my Heavenly Father is in my times of need. Why isn’t my life better? Why am i so sad? Why do i feel so alone? Why are things not working out for me? Why am i not good enough?

I’ve been doing everything I’ve supposed to be doing. I read my scriptures, say my prayers and do my best everyday to be kind and loving. So why am i facing these problems? This isn’t fair.

Then this poem i read once came to mind.

It was a comfort to me.

We may feel alone but we aren’t. He is always with us. Jesus Christ was sacrificed for our sins, he knows and felt what we are going through. He understands. He died for us so that we would not have to go through this life and our problems with it alone. He died for us so someone understood our pain, trials and hard times. He died for us so we could be happy in this life and the next and return back to our loving Heavenly Father.

God will send people to help you. He will bless you with the comfort of the spirit. He will bless you with those people around you to be an aid for you.

God impresses people to act and say the things they say, hardly is it by accident. Ever get that feeling that you need to text that friend you haven’t seen in a while to see how they’re doing? Or to just tell someone close to you that you love them? They probably need it whether they admit it or not. Next time you have that impression or prompting, always act on it.

We are blessed with so many tender mercies. Most the time they’re so subtle that we don’t even recognize them, so keep your eyes open and be aware.

A couple weeks ago i had posted on Facebook how i was looking for a job, no luck. Today i had 2 completely different people think about me and take time from their day to share with me some job postings they had seen. It was probably nothing to them but it was everything to me. It meant so much that they had thought about me.

Another thing. After writing this post I opened my scriptures. Verse 3 and 4 were such a blessing to me. God knew this is what I needed to read.

“For after much tribulations come the blessings….” verse 4 begins.

God will never ever leave you alone though you may feel it. Pray to him and ask him of the love and comfort that you are needing. Seek guidance and counsel for your life. Draw close to him by prayer, scripture study and serving those around you.

You might feel, as do i that this trial will never end, that things will never get better, that you will never be truly happy again. Humble yourself. Love God and love those around you. Accept and live His will. Search, ponder and pray. Read your scriptures. Serve. Have faith and trust in Him. Do anything to prevent yourself from focusing on all the negative things in your life and try to focus on the positive.